Ken Anderson
Kenneth Anderson (born March 6, 1976) is an American professional wrestler and occasional actor. He is signed to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), where he performs under the ring names Mr. Kennedy and Ken Kennedy, where he has become a one time WWE United States Champion Before being promoted to the main WWE roster, Anderson wrestled for numerous promotions in his career. While performing in these promotions, he won various championships, both in tag team and singles competition. Anderson was assigned to WWE's developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) in Louisville, Kentucky in 2005. After signing with WWE, Anderson made his debut on the SmackDown! roster in August 2005. In September 2006, he captured his first and only title with the company, the United States Championship, and would hold onto it for a month. The following year at WrestleMania 23, Anderson won the annual Money in the Bank ladder match, a contract, which guarantees a match for one of WWE's then three world level championships. He was released from his WWE contract on May 29, 2009. He returned to the independent circuit before signing a contract with TNA in 2010. Early life Anderson, the son of James Alan Holmes and Sheryl Anderson, has one sister, Jennifer Holmes. His father died on April 13, 2006 from cancer. Anderson graduated from Washington High School in Two Rivers, Wisconsin. During his time there, Anderson excelled at swimming and track & field. He also announced school basketball games and did a radio assignment in his Mass Media class. When doing this, a friend suggested to Anderson to repeat the surnames to make it funnier. That element was eventually used again in his wrestling character when encouraged by Paul Heyman. Before starting a wrestling career, Anderson worked as a security officer at Point Beach Nuclear Power Plant and as a personal trainer. He also served in the United States Army. Professional wrestling career Early career After training under All-Star Championship Wrestling alumni Eric Hammers and Mike "Mercury" Krause, Anderson was invited to perform on a trial basis on the World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment's secondary television programs Jakked, Velocity, and Sunday Night Heat as a jobber several times from 2001 to 2004. Anderson also made some appearances on NWA Total Nonstop Action's secondary television program Xplosion. The owner of the Total Nonstop Action promotion, Jeff Jarrett, approached him for a contract, but communications broke down. Anderson competed in the 2002 and 2003 Ted Petty Invitational tournaments (the first one then known as the Sweet Science Sixteen tournament) but did not advance past the first round in either of them. After he had wrestled for over six years, in February 2005 World Wrestling Entertainment signed Anderson to a developmental contract. World Wrestling Entertainment Ohio Valley Wrestling (2005) Upon signing with WWE in February 2005, Anderson was sent to the Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) developmental territory, where he would remain for 6 months. When he arrived, Jim Cornette was in charge of the organisation and, according to Anderson, didn't see potential in his abilities and declined to feature him as more than an occasional bit-player on OVW's programming. When Cornette departed, his replacement Paul Heyman showed immediate interest in Anderson, comparing his qualities to The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin. 5 weeks later, Anderson was called up to WWE's main roster to work on Velocity and he credits Heyman with helping him develop the character he would achieve success with. Before his first SmackDown! match, a victory over Funaki, he showed himself to be a cocky and arrogant wrestler with not only his mannerisms by taking a microphone and performing his own ring announcement. He referred to himself as "Mr. Anderson" for this match. A few weeks later, to avoid comparisons with the more famous Anderson family (as well as former Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Ken Anderson), he changed his name to "Ken Kennedy", or "Mr. Kennedy". This idea was initially suggested by Paul Heyman and was chosen as his name because it is the middle name of WWE Chairman Vince McMahon. SmackDown and United States Champion (2005–2007) .]] Kennedy defeated Funaki once again in his SmackDown! debut on August 25, 2005. Kennedy also created an ongoing mini-feud with SmackDown! ring announcer Tony Chimel, based on Kennedy believing that Chimel's announcing was not done well enough or with sufficient respect, and therefore performing his own introductions or forcing Chimel to introduce him again. Kennedy's self-ring introductions before the match became one of his trademarks. While working on both Velocity and SmackDown!, he was also still working in OVW. Kennedy made his pay-per-view debut at SmackDown!'s No Mercy, defeating Hardcore Holly and injuring Holly's ribs during the match. On the November 11 episode of SmackDown!, Kennedy faced Eddie Guerrero to compete for a spot on SmackDown!'s Survivor Series team. He lost the match when Guerrero tossed him a steel chair and played possum, a move which Guerrero had made famous. The groggy referee turned around and saw Guerrero on the ground with Kennedy holding the chair, and consequently disqualified Kennedy, awarding the place on Team SmackDown! to Guerrero. This was Kennedy's first loss. In retaliation, Kennedy struck Guerrero over the head with the chair after the match. This was Guerrero's final televised match, as he died on November 13 in his hotel room in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In interviews about the incident, Kennedy has stated that he considers this an "unfortunate honor". In December 2005, Kennedy participated in WWE's overseas tour. On the second day in Italy, Kennedy suffered a serious latissimus dorsi tear. Even after surgery in December, Kennedy was still forced out of the ring for nearly six months while he rehabilitated the legitimate injury. He continued to make appearances on SmackDown! and Velocity throughout January and February and even made an appearance on the January 11 episode of WWE Byte This! with Todd Grisham to maintain visibility. At the OVW tapings on May 10, Kennedy returned to in-ring action facing the Heavyweight Champion, CM Punk, in a title match that Kennedy was unable to win. Kennedy made his return to SmackDown! on the June 9 episode with a victory over Scotty 2 Hotty after using the Kenton Bomb. On the July 14 episode of SmackDown!, Matt Hardy used a roll-up to defeat Kennedy, ending Kennedy's streak of never being defeated by pin or submission. On the July 21 episode of SmackDown!, Batista put out an open challenge to find an opponent for The Great American Bash, as his original opponent, Mark Henry, had been injured. Kennedy accepted the challenge and won the match by disqualification, however, he suffered a severe injury during the match after being thrown headfirst into the steel steps, resulting in an exposed cranium laceration which required twenty stitches to close. He then entered into a short feud with Batista, defeating him by countout in their second match, but losing via pinfall in the third. Kennedy helped The McMahons (Vince and Shane) in their feud with D-Generation X (DX), appearing at both SummerSlam and the August 28 episode of Raw to attack DX. On the September 1 episode of SmackDown!, Kennedy defeated Finlay and Bobby Lashley in a Triple Threat match to win the WWE United States Championship, his first and only Championship reign in WWE. On the September 8 episode of SmackDown!, Kennedy announced that he wanted to move over to Raw, as SmackDown! did not interest him anymore because he had already defeated every top performer on the roster. This led to SmackDown! General Manager Theodore Long making a match between Kennedy and The Undertaker, who Kennedy had never faced, to be held at No Mercy. Kennedy won the match by disqualification. On the October 13 episode of SmackDown!, Kennedy, now with a win over The Undertaker, again stated his desire to move to the Raw brand. However, Long put him against an opponent who he had never faced—this time Chris Benoit—with Kennedy's title on the line. Long said that, if Kennedy were to defeat Benoit, he would be given his release and be allowed to go to Raw. Ultimately, Kennedy lost the match and the United States Championship to Benoit after submitting to the Crippler Crossface following a distraction by The Undertaker, which also marked Kennedy's first loss via submission. at a Raw house show.]] In November 2006, Kennedy joined forces with Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP) in matches against the Brothers of Destruction (Undertaker and Kane) in various combinations. On a November episode of SmackDown!, Kennedy and MVP lost to the Brothers of Destruction three times. After first getting counted out, Theodore Long restarted the match with no countouts. When they disqualified themselves following a low blow by Kennedy, Long restarted the match again with no countouts and no disqualifications. Kennedy and MVP continued to feud with the brothers, with MVP feuding with Kane while Kennedy challenged the Undertaker to a match at Survivor Series, which was later announced as a First Blood match. Kennedy won the match after MVP turned on him and aimed for his head with a steel chair, but missed and hit the Undertaker instead, leaving him bleeding. After the match, the Undertaker attacked Kennedy, forcing him to bleed. At Armageddon, Kennedy and the Undertaker met in a final match; they were scheduled in a Last Ride match. In the match, the Undertaker defeated Kennedy. After a brief hiatus, Kennedy returned to SmackDown! on January 5 and defeated Chris Benoit in a "Beat the Clock" match, with the overall prize being a shot at Batista's World Heavyweight Championship at the Royal Rumble. After he prevented The Undertaker from beating his time, Kennedy's time of 5:07 ended up being the fastest. At the Royal Rumble, he lost the match, as well as a subsequent rematch. From there, Kennedy began a short feud with ECW World Champion Bobby Lashley, leading to a match at No Way Out for the title which Kennedy won by disqualification. Kennedy challenged Lashley unsuccessfully on ECW and SmackDown! as well. Raw and Mr. Money in the Bank (2007-2008) Kennedy earned a spot in the 2007 Money in the Bank ladder match by defeating Sabu in an Extreme Rules match in a February episode of ECW on Sci Fi. At WrestleMania 23, Kennedy won the Money in the Bank ladder match, giving him the right to challenge any World Champion in WWE at any date up until WrestleMania XXIV. Kennedy announced on the April 30 episode of Raw that he would be cashing in his Money in the Bank championship opportunity at WrestleMania 24. On the May 7 episode of Raw, Kennedy, however, lost his Money in the Bank opportunity to Edge, losing mere moments after a blow to the head from a monitor before the match began. Because of the injury Kennedy sustained during his match with Edge, it was revealed that his right triceps muscle tore off the bone and he would be out for a minimum of five to seven months. The injury, however, was not as serious, as the triceps tendon did not tear off the bone but was, in fact, a massive hematoma. On the June 11 episode of Raw, Kennedy was drafted from SmackDown! to Raw as part of the WWE Draft. On the August 20 episode of Raw, Carlito hosted the interview segment Carlito's Cabana. During the segment Carlito challenged his special guest, Umaga for his Intercontinental Championship at SummerSlam, and Kennedy also demanded a shot at the title. Raw General Manager William Regal, scheduled a match between Kennedy and Carlito, in which the winner would receive an opportunity to face off against Umaga at SummerSlam. After the match ended in a draw, Regal booked a Triple Threat match at SummerSlam between the three men for the Intercontinental Championship; at the event, Umaga retained the title. On the September 10 episode of Raw, Mr. McMahon revealed that Kennedy had, in storyline, been suspended for "impersonating a McMahon". This angle was written because Kennedy being named one of the eleven superstars implicated in a steroid scandal and therefore suspended for thirty days in accordance with WWE's Wellness Policy. house show in 2007]] After his suspension, Kennedy returned to television on the October 1 episode of Raw, facing John Cena in the main event. At No Mercy in October, Kennedy took part of a six-man tag team match alongside then World Tag Team Champions Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch defeating then-Intercontinental Champion Jeff Hardy and Paul London and Brian Kendrick. For several weeks, Kennedy began a feud with Jeff Hardy, which consisted of the two facing off in a singles match and numerous tag team matches, most of which Hardy won. At Cyber Sunday, Kennedy and Hardy were two of the eligible wrestlers that could earn a WWE Championship match for that evening, pending the fan's votes. Neither man won the opportunity, as Shawn Michaels won the vote and earned a shot at the title. Although neither won the title shot, Kennedy defeated Hardy in a scheduled match made by William Regal. Kennedy next entered a feud with Shawn Michaels on the night after Survivor Series. Kennedy claimed that it was time for Michaels to move on and let the younger, talented superstars climb the ladder to success. At Armageddon, Michaels defeated Kennedy after he was able to hit Kennedy with Sweet Chin Music. On the December 31 episode of Raw, Kennedy and Michaels had a rematch where Kennedy pinned Michaels following his new finishing move, the Mic Check. In subsequent rematches, the two traded wins over each other. At the Royal Rumble, Kennedy eliminated Michaels from the Royal Rumble match, ending the rivalry between the two. After several months of minor feuds and short storylines, Kennedy was not seen for weeks after WrestleMania XXIV, because he was filming a role for the new film Behind Enemy Lines: Colombia. Kennedy returned to Raw on April 28, as he confronted and brawled with General Manager and newly crowned King of the Ring William Regal, turning into a face character in the process. On the May 18 episode of Raw, Kennedy defeated Regal in a "Loser Gets Fired Match", thereby opening up the General Manager spot on the Raw brand. Brand switches and departure (2008–2009) During the sixth annual WWE Draft on June 23, 2008 on Raw, Kennedy was drafted from Raw back to the SmackDown brand. On August 4, he dislocated his shoulder in a match against Shelton Benjamin at a house show, sidelining him from active competition. Kennedy made his return to WWE television, in a non-wrestling capacity, on the November 24 episode of Raw, while promoting his film Behind Enemy Lines: Colombia, and also made an appearance on SmackDown on the November 28 episode. Personal life In wrestling *'Finishing moves' **''Green Bay Plunge'' (Super rolling fireman's carry slam) – 2005–2007; used as a signature from 2010-present **''Kenton Bomb'' (Senton bomb) - 2006–2007, 2010–present; used as a signature from 2010-present **''Mic Check'' (Reverse STO) – 2007–present *'Signature moves' **Arm trap swinging neckbreaker **Facewash **Feint roundhouse kick transitioned into an enzuigiri **Knee lift **Rolling fireman's carry slam *'Nicknames' **"Kamikaze" **"The Head Asshole in Charge" *'Entrance themes' **"Pour Some Sugar on Me" by Def Leppard (Independent circuit) **"Turn Up the Trouble" performed Ted Nigro and composed by Jim Johnston (WWE; September 1, 2005 – February 25, 2008) **'"Turn Up the Trouble (Remix)"' by Airbourne (WWE; March 3, 2008 – May 25, 2009) Championships and accomplishments **'WWE For Extreme' **WWE United States Championship (1 time) Category:1976 births Category:American male professional wrestlers Category:Living people Category:People from Two Rivers, Wisconsin Category:Professional wrestlers from Wisconsin Category:Sportspeople from Minneapolis, Minnesota Category:United States Army soldiers Category:Minnesota Republicans Category:Wisconsin Republicans Category:New Jersey Republicans Category:Sportspeople from Jersey City, New Jersey Category:Immortal (professional wrestling) members